Deskjet 1200 color?

[Hactar]

Hi. I have a Deskjet 1200C/PS. I haven't been able to print color for a while -- I guess one color failed, and since there was another printer to which I could print in color, I didn't bother fixing it, and the others died. Meanwhile, I can print fine in black.

I recently got a good deal on print cartridges ($10 each! Woohoo!) so I got one of each color (there are four). However, replacing one does not make that color work.

I tried cleaning the cartridge tips with a Q-tip and alcohol; that got lots of dried ink off, but did not make it print better. Do you guys have any idea how to fix this? Thanks.

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-eben
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[jclw]

I'm a little confused by your post. Have you tried new HP (not refilled) cartridges?

- JW

 

[Hactar]

> I'm a little confused by your post. Have you tried new HP
> (not refilled) cartridges?

Yes. I always (out of superstition, maybe) get new, HP-brand, cartridges.

Do you think water is possibly not a good enough solvent for any dried-up ink and that the new cartidge came pre-clogged (saving me the trouble of clogging it myself, I guess)?

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-eben
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[jclw]

If it's brand new and came with that special strip to protect the head intact I don't think it came "pre-clogged".

Check the ribbon cable leading to the print head assembly for knicks or breaks.

I've never seen an HP printhead "clog". If they get an old ink buildup on them they usually print funny and "drip". I had a DeskJet 722 that stopped printing yellow, but that was some internal error. For what it was going to cost to get it fixed, I just bought a new one ($100).

- JW

 

[Hactar]

> If it's brand new and came with that special strip to
> protect the head intact I don't think it came
> "pre-clogged".

Well, it was brand new, but the date on the package was March, 1997.

> Check the ribbon cable leading to the print head assembly
> for knicks or breaks.

I know there must be one (how else do the signals and power get to the carriage?), but I can't find it. Odd that the cartridges I use less should be affected, and the one I use more should not...

Hang on, asking somebody else... searching... OK, I found a small one (4 conductors), close to the body of the carriage. Is this the one you're thinking of? I was expecting to find a wider (~1 inch) one, going from the carriage to the printer body.

> For what it was going to cost to get it fixed, I just
> bought a new one ($100).

Eventually, ink cartridges for this printer will become unobtainable, and it'll become economical to get a different printer.


--
-eben
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[jclw]

Hmmm... I have a 1220C now, and the ribon is about an inch wide but has about 30 or 40 conductors.

Can you switch two colour catridges on that printer? ie: cyan and yellow? That would identify the source of the problem.

- JW

 

[Hactar]

> Hmmm... I have a 1220C now, and the ribon is about an
> inch wide but has about 30 or 40 conductors.

Yes, I found them now. (They're in such a position that you can't see them from above, but only from ahead.) There appear to be two of them, right next to each other. They're horizontal, behind the carriage, and there is nothing physically wrong with them. They appear to be grey IDE-like cables, not thin brown things.

> Can you switch two colour catridges on that printer? ie:
> cyan and yellow? That would identify the source of the
> problem.

The color ones are interchangeable, but they seem to be keyed differently than the black one: they won't go into the black slot and vice versa.
Printing with C in Y, Y in M, and M in C gives K only. All of the cartridges have a full green rectangle on the front, indicating full ink.

--
-eben
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[jclw]

Sorry, I don't know what else to suggest...

- JW